Random Epicsounding Title
by GodOfImagination98
Summary: As divivnities play chess with their favorite pawns, Shen gets a second chance. A new threat. Conflict. Aerial action. Underground, Underwater, Noodles, that kinda thing. You get the Idea.


a month or so had passed since the fiasco in Gongmen had been resolved by the warriors from the valley of peace, and necessary repairs to the partly damaged city were nearing completion. However, The tower of the sacred flame was far from that. With just enough debris to clear the battlements and below-ground access, the reconstruction was crawling so slowly that if it had been going any slower, it would have been going backwards. But with the rest of the city still in the remnants mass of confusion,

The opportune time for a theft.

Five shapes flew in formation, outlined against the radiant setting sun. Two hawks dropped out from behind and dived towards the abandoned construction site, landing inconspicuously at the entrance to the sub-levels of the palace. The remaining three altered course slightly to soar in a wide ark in the sky and drop down below the seaward walls.

"Now, where was it... five blocks from the right, twelve from bottom, I think?" muttered a white osprey, the tips of his feathers dashed with dark, murky black-brown. He motioned for one of his mates, a falcon, to the block which he had counted out. The falcon nodded, then pulled out a crowbar from a pouch slung over his back. He wedged the long tool into the brick wall, and the three birds started work strenuously. The brick started to revolve, its surrounding counterparts moving with it. When they were finished, they were facing a low, wide archway. The third bird, a young eagle owl, stood gaping with surprise, which the falcon noticed.

"Come on, we didn't come here to admire the nasty little secrets architects had fun with." He snapped. The osprey frowned at him.

"We didn't come here to mock other's novicehood, either." He said, quietly. "Come on."

The three walked into the darkness of the tunnel.

Far away from this scene, the furious five of the valley of peace were enjoying themselves with a contest of wits and patience. So far, the only results were a cascade of bamboo cards covering the stairs up to the temple.

"What I don't get," said monkey, carefully adjusting a piece on top of the latest tower of cards, "is why the council hasn't found a single member of the family to get on top of Gongmen yet. After a _month_!"

Viper raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Well, if that's the case, there's only one possible conclusion. Nobody's there to take the royal seat!" She held up another card for mantis.

"I think the Gongmen family is not going to extend its legacy for a few years, even if it were remaining." Tigress said. "And we all can guess why. A half-crazed white birdbrain attempting to eliminate Kung Fu and rule over half of the Asian landmass is not a nice comment on the mouths of ambassadors."

"People, we have an issue here!" Mantis shouted down from the top of the pile. A spinning piece of bamboo dropped from the top of the structure and bonked tigress on the head.

"Oh, no..." Viper moaned.

The whole structure started to sway, then came crashing down. The five leaped away in all directions.

A silhouette flashed in the sky, and crane landed on the pile of cards with a smug look. He started to say, "I told y-" when Mantis held his long beak shut.

Tigress growled. "I don't think you'll want to say another word right now, crane." His face fell.

Monkey, who was looking with a blank expression at the mess on the stairs, muttered, "We are so dead."

The same words were uttered by a young eagle owl, in an underground chamber filled with shelves of dusty scrolls. He and the other two backed up against a shelf.

The falcon nudged the osprey. "Any ideas?"

He shook his head. "Not at the moment."

From far off, the shouts of palace guards echoed through the stone tunnels.

The Owl started fidgeting, sifting his talons from side to side. One of his left talons cut through a strand of twine at the bottom of the bookshelf.

The osprey noticed. "Wait...I actually do."

He pushed hard on the bookshelf. With a wooden _thuk_, the shelf moved into the wall, then opened into darkness. He smiled to himself. The owl looked overjoyed.

"Well, come on! A mysterious door opening into nothingness doesn't change the fact that we're still being chased!" The falcon said.

"You really need to cut down on the liquor." the osprey commented, smirking.

"And you, sir, need something to fill up that empty space you call a heart."

Together, the three ran into the darkness. A moment later, somebody shouted, "Idiots!", and the falcon hastily ran back to shut the door.

After running for a few dozen seconds, they noticed the echoes of their footsteps resounding not in a narrow tunnel, but in a rather large space.

"Does anybody smell something like wet fireworks?" The falcon asked. The osprey lit a small portable lamp with his flint and steel to find an array of waist-height pillars, each with a large dish on top filled with a black liquid.

"That'll be these things. I think it's coal powder and lamp oil." The osprey muttered. He lowered his flame to the dish.

With a loud sputtering hiss, it ignited, than the flames died down to leave a blinding pile of bright embers. The three birds squinted in the light. The osprey resumedto light the others.

A few seconds later, the whole chamber was lit as bright as day. It was hexagonal in shape, identical in geometry to the throne room a hundred floors above them, according to one bird.

"But you've never been to the throne room!" The osprey exclaimed. The falcon held up his wings and laughed.

"Okay, okay!" He admitted, "But I heard from Tseng about it." He resumed observing the chamber, then chuckled. "I think the royal architects got a little too underpaid. They have these hideouts for, like, thieves! And in the archives, too!"

"...and nowhere else..." The osprey muttered, now deep in thought. His eyes widened. "I don't think this is a hideout."

"um...I think I have an explanation..." Said the owl. They both turned to look at him.

He cleared is throat nervously and said, "I have a friend of mine whose brother worked in here, with the archivists. He used to clean scrolls, but he quit because he didn't like dust."

The osprey nodded. "Go on."

The falcon started to lose attention.

The owl eyed him nervously. "Well, according to him, there was a rumor around the archivists that there was a room of lost souls at the very center of the archives, so...I guess..."

"Why is it called the room of lost souls?" The falcon said, staring down and picking at the tips of his wings absentmindedly.

"Gaah!" The osprey gasped. The two whipped around to face him. He was trembling, his eyes wider than ever and his beak half-open with pain and surprise. Then he collapsed. A cold wind blew through the chamber, and the brillant lamps flickered and faded into darkness.

Far away, in a place that no live being had reached, the being who called itself Oogway smiled. He nudged a figure next to him, who snorted a cloud of steam in discontent.

"I told you he would get back on track."

The figure waved a clawed hand. "Doesn't mean he'll _stay_ on track, hnn?"

Oogway looked back at the scene. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that."


End file.
